77. Learn how to cook asparagus the way Pultz makes it

I will never be as good of a cook as my husband.  Afterall, he is a professional chef :)  So when it comes to copying his method for cooking asparagus, this is the closet I've come up with.

Mark's directions:

• Blanch
• Sautee with garlic and ginger

Now if you're like me and "blanch" conjures up more of the image below rather than vegetables, you can understand why it took me a bit to get it right.

Via Wikipedia

When blanching it's best to go by "feel" and "looks".  As Mark (the pro) points out, it all depends on the size of the asparagus, the type of stove, how big the pot is, etc... so I've given some rough estimations below.

My Directions:

• Cut off the bottom part of the asparagus so they're the right size to fit in your pot/pan.

• Blanch the asparagus.
• The link explains it better than me, but I say boil some water with a dash of salt in the pot.  Drop the asparagus into the boiling water and cook it until the spears turn bright green.  This is where you can cook them too long and then it flops.  I estimate 2-4 minutes.  Another test is to squeeze them and they should be soft on the outside but still feel like they have a core.  Don't let them go mushy!   
• Then, take the asparagus out of the pot and put into a bowl of ice water... or I just dump it into a strainer in the sink and pour cold, cold water over it.  Get the asparagus to room temperature or colder.  This is called "shocking" and basically you want to stop the cooking process.

• Heat a saute pan with some olive oil, and add the asparagus.  Add salt and pepper and toss the asparagus around to get all the 'gus covered in everything.  Throw in about a half teaspoon of chopped garlic and a half teaspoon of chopped ginger.  The stuff from the jar works just great.

• Mix around the asparagus, ginger, and garlic (I use tongs) over medium heat.  You don't want the pan too hot.  Keep it moving for about 2 minutes or until it looks done and that's it!

Now hopefully I will eat more vegetables when they taste this good, which is the main reason this goal came about in the first place.  What's your favorite way of cooking these little green stalks?